Z/Web

Glady and my mom went back home today. They were a great help. They put liners on all my shelves and cleaned the blinds, bathrooms, and more. The house was in surprisingly decent shape but it did need cleaning. A lot of the blinds need replacing but since I don’t think I want ugly blinds long term, I won’t bother doing that yet.

I had to go to the post office to get my box. Unfortunately, no one told me I needed two forms of ID. A driver’s license is enough ID to get me on a plane but not enough to open a PO box! Fortunately, the gal relented and went ahead and granted me a box with the promise that I’d return next week with a second form of ID. So now I know my new mailing address and can start informing people of that.

My flight home was scheduled for 6:55 p.m. so I’d planned to leave at four o’clock. That was three hours, but I wasn’t sure how long it took to get to the airport and I had to return the rental car. It seemed like plenty of time so I was a little lax leaving and didn’t get on the road until 4:15. Then I realized I’d miscalculated two other things. First, by the time I got to Portland area, it was basically five o’clock rush hour. Traffic was at a standstill. It was six o’clock before I got to the airport area. Then I remembered I was supposed to fill the rental with gas before returning it! I couldn’t remember the penalty if I didn’t, but since they’d offered me a “cheaper” option of buying a full tank for $36, I figured the penalty must cost more than that. Unfortunately, there were no gas stations near the airport. I ended up having to drive about fifteen minutes away to find one. By the time I got back, it was almost six thirty and catching my flight was going to be tough! Fortunately the rental return was a breeze. I pulled into a lane, the gal took my key, inspected the car and approved that no damage had been done, and I was off to the Southwest counter with my luggage. There was a minimal wait in line there but I’d already seen on the monitor that my flight was delayed. Sure enough, when gave me my boarding pass she informed me the plane would leave at 7:20 p.m. So suddenly I had plenty of time. It turned out I had even more time than that, because we didn’t leave until eight o’clock! It was a routine flight, except for the girl crying in the seat behind me during the decent. She apparently was suffering from some sort of sinus pressure or something due to the plane descending. It was painful and she was crying and moaning. It really unnerved a lot of people. The flight crew did nothing, of course. Just like that time I got sick on a flight. Southwest sucks. I really don’t like them as an airline. I thought the girl was a child but when we got off I was surprised to see she was a college-aged woman! We landed, I got my checked bag, grabbed a shuttle (perfect timing), found my car, paid for parking (since I was there for three days and five hours, I got socked for a full extra day, the lamers), and drove home. I was keyed up and needed to unwind, so I watched some TV and ate a late dinner. I went to bed about midnight, ready for an early morning. I was getting nervous because there was a ton to do and this was crunch time.